Say what you will about Barry Chamish, but first watch this video. Tell me he isn't spot on.

Do you know of any other government which blatantly shirks its fundamental responsibility to defend its own people, the people who elected it?

Better yet, do you know of any other government which seems to be doing the exact opposite of defending its people?

Barry's got it right. Israel is in big trouble.

Barry doesn't use the words, but I will...Eruv Rav.

While you're perusing YouTube, check out some of his other videos. I recommend Destruction Of Israel (H"W) from last year. Even if you cut Barry's numbers down by 80 percent, you can still see we're in big trouble.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Remember my "Macho Settler Sandal Shitah?" Last year I reported that I hadn't worn regular shoes for quite some time, only sandals with the exception of rain boots during last year's week of snow in Jerusalem.

Well, I caved.

A neighbor [felt sorry for me? and] gave me some shoes. He claims they were a gift from his credit card company, but they turned out to be too small for him.

Now, why would a credit card company send out a gift without checking the size? Maybe it did, but put the wrong pair in the box.

Maybe it's time for me to stop asking questions, and just say thank you.

Anyway, my feet were cold even with two pair of socks and sandals. So, I started wearing those shoes. There have been a few hints of spring this week, and temperatures have been around 17 C (62.5 F). Tonight it's expected to drop only down to 6 C (43 F). So I can handle the walk down from the hill in just Shabbath sandals.

Beginning this coming Sunday (18 Adar I/February 24) there will be changes in Jerusalem bus routes, as well as the addition of routes. This will effect those of us traveling between the the central bus station and the Jerusalem Mall (5 is changed, 6), the central bus station and Pisgat Ze'ev (6, 66 added), and the central bus station and Talpiyoth and Har Homah (14 canceled, 21/21A extended, 5 & 74 added).

The maps are in Hebrew, but the explanations of the individual lines are in English, making the map quite readable, even if you are not so confident with your Hebrew. Just make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click either image to get to the page with the route changes.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

(IsraelNN.com) MK Rabbi Michael Melchior (Labor-Meimad) had advance warning that Gaza terrorists planned to blow apart the international border with Egypt in late January but failed to pass the information on to security officials, Army Radio reported Thursday.

More than 500,000 Arabs crossed from Gaza to Sinai during a week-long period that there was no functional border, and security officials believe Hamas imported vast quantities of quality weaponry and ammunition through the open border. They estimate the arms include anti-tank weaponry, RPGs, rifles, bomb-making equipment and more.

Former Shin Bet Security Chief Yaakov Peri defended Melchior, saying advance warning of the breach would not have made any difference to Israel's reaction to the incident. "Let's say we'd known 48 hours in advance. What, exactly, would we have done differently?"

How the hell does MK Michael Melchior receive such information? You will notice that the word "rabbi" is missing in the previous sentence. This was done purposefully. So, I had better quell some of your hysterics over this "heinous act of disrespect," including the hysterics of the 12 percent of Efrat residents who voted for Labor-Meimad in 5758/1998. You read correctly...12 percent. Let me back-track and provide you with a little tidbit of information on the illustrious Member of Kenesseth.

He has never, to the best of my knowledge EVER said anything intelligent in his role as Member of Kenesseth. If anyone is able to find something of the sort, I will be happy to stand corrected Please post a comment.

Even religious-hater extraordinaire, former MK Yosef "Tommy" Lapid has made at least one intelligent statement in his official role. In opposing Yasar Arafat's burial in Jerusalem, he said, "Jerusalem is where we bury Jewish kings, not terrorists."

OK. Not so thrilling, but remember we're talking about Tommy Lapid here.

Back to Melchior,...Smicha-Shmicha. A piece of paper is meaningless to me, and meaningless al pi halacha, but don't tell anyone. It's one of the greatest kept secrets in the Jewish World.

The above photo shows him,...well, pointing and talking at a young, religious man (Just the facts, ma'am). I can only imagine what he's saying. The original photo has his Meima"d Party's approval, too. Meima"d, by the way, is a Hebrew acronym, standing for "A Jewish State, a Democratic State."

Sounds lovely to many of you, I am sure. However, you will be hard pressed to find anything on the Meima"d website having to do with halacha. Halacha? What's that? Does that have something to do with being Jewish?

Its site seems dedicated to "getting along with the goyim" INSIDE OF Israel, which incidentally, with certain exceptions which are few and far between is contrary to halacha, at least according to the Ramba"m (Hil. Avodah Zarah we'Huqoth haGoyim 10).

Now I ask you again. How does HE know, what appears to be sensitive, intelligence information? That's "intelligence," not "intelligent."

A friend of mine, a rabbi who lives in Me'ah Sha'arim neighborhod in Jerusalem found himself with a broken down car in, of all places, Sacramento, the capital of the State of California.

Dressed in traditional, hasidishe Yerushalmi, black hat and coat, he stood outside a garage, talking with the mechanic about the prognosis of his car. After the conversation, he overheard two on-lookers discussing his presence.

"What religion do you suppose HE is?"

"Why he must be a Moslem Catholic."

What on earth is a Moslem Catholic? I am a native Californian, and for the life of me, I haven't a clue. The only answer I can possibly come up with for the astute conclusion of the Hakhamei Sacramento, based solely on my friend's livush (garb), is that,....well,...this was after all in Sacramento.

For those of you who do not know Sacramento, it doesn't have the reputation, neither for being the most exciting place to visit, nor having the highest number of Harvard graduates living in close proximity,...if you get my drift.

Never the less, said friend and I have immensely enjoyed spending time, discerning what the practices must be of this ancient religion, steeped in centuries of tradition.

1. Which way should one face during Communion, toward Rome or Mecca? Neither. The seat of the Moslem Catholic religion is Sacramento, the place of its founding. The same goes for the direction of bowing during prayer.

2. Communion is done grape juice, as it is non-alcoholic.

3. The head of the Moslem Catholic religion is the "Popimam."

4. If Christmas falls during Ramadan, as it did nine years ago, festive meals are held only at night.

5. The same applies for Easter, yet there is no such thing as an Easter ham.

6. The official position of the Moslem Catholic religion on the Middle East is: "We wish our brethren in Ohio only peace and prosperity, and are willing to defend them in a war, if Pennsylvania ever decides to attack."

7. Higher education is frowned upon,...obviously.

Are there any customs I am forgetting? Please let me know by leaving a comment.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

(IsraelNN.com) The chairman of the Yesha Council, Danny Dayan, told Arutz Sheva Wednesday that the discussion of whether or not Jerusalem was being negotiated over with the PA was itself "a farce." Dayan contended that the question of Jerusalem had come up much earlier than the present negotiations, and even before the Annapolis conference.

"Olmert and Ramon reached agreement with the Palestinians about dividing Jerusalem according to the Clinton blueprint 'plus,' including ceding the sites most holy to us," Dayan said. "This negotiation process is being continued today in both public and secret channels," he explained.

How the hell does he know? How is he privvy to "secret channels?" It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the Yo"Sh Council getting its budget directly from the Office of the Prime Minister, could it?

An even better question to ask is "When did he know?"

By the way, I also find it highly offensive that the Yo"Sh (Judea & Samaria) Council still calls itself the YeSh"A (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) Council. What did the Yo"Sh Council do for Gaza? What has it done for the expelled residents of Azza now?

Inspired by Gila's My Shrapnel Blog, I believe it's high time I finish writing my "Bomb Attack Piece." After all, it's been five and a half years. I think instead of writing a series, I will stick with one,...for now.

But, like I said, I'm rather blogged out at the moment. It'll happen eventually,...hopefully soon. What better way to procrastinate finding a job?

Yeah, I know. Ten thousand is just no big whoop. It took me a year and a half to do it, too. I'm not so interested in readership. Well, once in a while I am. But the truth is I do it for myself. (You're all rolling your eyes, and saying, "Yeah, right!") I'm still not sure why the Shabba"k (General Security Service) hasn't "paid me a visit" yet. Well, yeah I do. They know everything they need to know about me, and know that I'm totally unimportant, certainly not worth their time.

Or d'var aher, that cop in the Russian Compound who questioned me about the activities of the internet cafe where I worked, wasn't really a cop. "They" closed that internet cafe, by the way, two years ago, leaving me unemployed. Sound familiar? There's obviously a conspiracy to keep unemployed, and thus causing me to go insane,...or well, more insane than I already am.

We do know from Nati's experience, that if nothing else, the Shabba"k pays attention to English language blogs after all....

Regarding my "between jobs" status, I don't really have any excuse for not pounding the pavement today. The snowfall in Jerusalem was minimal, after all the hype about a major cold front and storm zooming down from Russia. Arutz 7 is calling it The Blizzard That Never Was.

Gee, aren't you getting bored with me complaining about unemployment already? Why don't you shut me up already by sending me some money?

Nah. I've got this feeling that although my readers (Doesn't "my readers" sound a bit like I'm full of myself?) are better off than I am, they probably don't have anything to spare either.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs -- a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term 'Haveil Havalim,' which means "Vanity of Vanities," is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other 'excesses' and realized that it was nothing but 'hevel,' or in English, 'vanity.'

But first, a few words from our sponsor...

1) A number of bloggers do a tremendous job of submitting posts. Our new and fabulous, fearless leader, Jack, requests that you please not submit more than three of your own posts. That's three,...not 15, but 3. You can easily remember this because "3 is the counting of the holy hand grenade, not one, not two, [not 15], but 3 -Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

3) The deadline for submission is Friday. Yes, it used to be Saturday night, but no longer.

4) There is a vicious rumor going around that hosts automatically gain an invitation to a waffle breakfast at Jameel's place.

Jameel? Where are my waffles? Did Ill Call Baila get hers? Please make mine with spelt flour and without eggs. I'm on a diet. Also, please hold the vanilla, or any other spirit, called for in the recipe.

Until I see my waffles, I am afraid that this rumor cannot be confirmed.

And, now we go back to our regularly scheduled program....

How to begin?

Well, I was going to BORE you with my PROBLEMS: unemployment, noisy neighbors, lack of funds, the inability of most American Jews' to fathom that "lack of funds" cannot always be remedied by going to the kaspomat (automatic teller machine), fear of homelessness, etc. Did I mention noisy neighbors?

No, I wouldn't want to do that.

Instead I'll just dive right in. As I receive posts throughout the week (by the way, that's a HINT, by the way), I try to look for developing patterns or emerging themes. Other than a certain elimination of a particularly nasty Arab and the on-going bombardment of the Negev Desert, the only pattern or theme I saw developing was that posts coming in could easily have fit into any number of categories. As the week progressed, I was receiving more and more posts which were very focused, dictating the addition of categories.

What does that mean? I have no idea.

By the way, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that you may submit posts on Sunday if you have 'em. I know that many of you worry about writing your best post of Friday. Then having already submitted a fair few during the week, you may be concerned about going over the rule of thumb limit of three, and thus decide to wait until Friday to make your decision about which of your posts to submit. I wouldn't worry too much.

I believe that any reasonable host would be happy to field a few of your posts on Friday or a couple over the rule of thumb limit over the course of the week. However, submitting 15 posts, all one hour before Shabbath...is not ideal,...in my VERY humble opinion.

In The Nature of our War, relatively new blogger on the scene in Israel, Tomer Devorah describes both our physical (part 1) and our spiritual (part 2) struggles. I'll bet you didn't know just how much of a stronghold Christian missionaries have been gaining in Israel.

I posted The U. S., Israel, and Christians for Ellen Horowitz. You probably did not realize the depth of the connections among these three, including the current elections in the U. S., revealed in this comprehensive round-up with commentary.

In The News

Joe Settler informs us of the efforts to expose the shenanigans of the Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) organization in Moral Victory.Smooth Stone enlightens us to the not so hidden truth of "Israeli Apartheid Week".

On the other hand, Gila at My Shrapnel tells us why she feels really by for Olmert right now in Bamba And/Or World Peace.

This leads us to looking at....

S'deroth

I don't think it matters why the situation is the way it is. Nor does it matter what you think should or should be done about Azza (Gaza), or about the Northern and Western Negev, now reaching Ashqelon on a regular basis, this city in Israel, along with its surrounding areas, deserves its own section.

Batya at Shiloh Musings explains some of the problems with the government, and brings us photos of last Sunday's demonstration against the government's failure to do anything to stop the rocket attacks, in The Battle Cry Makes Me Nervous.

Tamar also at Tzipiyah.com provides one answer to this question in a personal piece simply entitled "S'derot."

Joe Settler, posting at The Muqata, reports on S'deroth residents' new strategy in Sderot To Launch Homemade Rockets. If you ask me, it's about time. Linda at Something...and Half of Something also heard about this, but gives an interesting twist on it. If you're in the U. S., and even if you're not, I recommend you read her post Tit For Tat.

The next piece comes from Israeli Satire Laboratory, whom you will usually find in the humor section. I have no doubt that there will be mixed reactions to this post. Please don't be too harsh with him. Extreme circumstances sometimes call for extreme actions to hammer the point home. Please read what Olmert Promises....

Judith at Kesher Talk reports on a interesting story unfolding in New York. What happens when a Habbadniq becomes principal in a mostly Hispanic public school?: Read Madre de Dios, The Principal is a Jew!!Soccer Dad gives his take on this story as well in Yiddishe Nachas.

Call me too much of a compartamentalizer (Yes, I have decided that this is indeed a word), but Mottel at Letters Of Thought deserves his own category. Check out his photos and narrative in A Trip To Slovenia, and you'll see why. By the way, I recognized one of the guys in your photos, Mottel. Toras Emes, right? Small world.

Food

I still am not not sure how tongue-in-cheek Ezra at Jewneric is trying to be in this up and coming blog. So, I'm playing it safe by putting in the "Food" section. What I AM sure about is that Ezra is right on about Sushi and Tel-Aviv (good heksherim our there by the way) and that certain big and trendy, Jewish blog collaborations and sites (that shall remain nameless at the present time) had better be on their toes, because Jewneric is here,...and this blog actually features some talented, young writers. Check out Ezra's "About the Impending Israeli Sushi Strike and the Implications and Ramifications upon the Future of the Israeli Society."

Humor

OK, so here's the humor section. Starting us off is the Israeli Satire Laboratory, who we have already seen has been concerned about what's been happening in S'deroth. ISL asks, "Can Flying Pigs Save Sderot?" But, wait a minute. This idea doesn't sound so farfetched.

Now check out Head Of Doodle's Phone And Disease. I'll bet you have some of the same thoughts as this yeshiva bochur.

Well, you'd think that with all of my categories, I would have been able to avoid a "Miscellaneous" section. Well, I did because Link Heaven from NY's Funniest Rabbi really is more of a potpourri than a miscellaneous post.

Meta-Blogging

Batya is close to her 100,000 hit son her blog Me-Ander. She tell us more about it in Counter Milestone.

Some of you may know that I am not the biggest fan of the JIB's. I have nothing against them. I just think they sometimes bring out the... well, not the best in people. That's not the fault of the awards, though, but of individual bloggers. I do have one recommendation to make the, now forming, JIB's committee. Add the following category: "Most 80 x 15 px Rectangular Link Buttons."

A Final Note...

I pride myself on being as open-minded and inclusive as possible, when hosting Haveil Havalim, even though Jack has told me that he is continuing Soccer Dad's policy of giving discretion to the host. (Jack, please place a comment below, if you want to clarify that.) I know that this continues to surprise and amaze some of you.

My main goal was to include every blogger whom submitted something. I actually know and LIKE some of the bloggers with whom I often disagree better than some of the ones with whom I often agree. But, hey, that's just me.

I only eliminated a few of posts from inclusion, one was from a non-Jew, whose site I really liked. It's just that his submission had absolutely nothing to do with being Jewish or with Israel. It was an innocuous, and completely non-offensive post. I just couldn't make the connection.

I also believe I received a "spam" carnival submission. Not sure.

The last rejected post came from a Christian pastor, who wanted to teach us some Talmud.

Uh-uh. Ain't gonna happen, not when I'm hosting. And, for those who are interested, this is forbidden al pi halacha. I'm not telling you what you should or shouldn't do, just providing you with some information. (Watch. Someone will dawqa include a post like this just to show me.)

Also, check out the latest edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival hosted by Batya at Me-Ander. The next edition will be out soon at Gillian Pollak.

Please send your posts for next week's edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form. I found this to be very helpful in organizing your posts this week. Plus, it doesn't look like we have a host for next week, so there wouldn't be any other place to send your links to. If you're interested in hosting or receiving more information about the carnival, please contact Jack at talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net.

All prospective candidates in this year’s presidential campaign have expressed their obligatory devotion to Israel, and have also pledged their robust allegiance to Jesus. The evangelical camp has splintered, and I don’t envy American Jews come November 2008 - as this campaign is taking some bazaar turns….

Lauded conservative pundit, Ann Coulter - author of "If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans", - has cast her lot with Hillary Clinton. McCain simply isn’t conservative enough for her. Watch as she batters McCain and bats for Clinton:

You remember Ann. She expressed her wishes - via a televised interview - that it would be preferable if all Americans were Christian. She then went on to expound upon Christian theology and the need for Jews to be “perfected”. Liberal Jewish groups denounced her, while a predictable group of Jewish Republican personalities ran to her defense.

A couple of months ago Ann, penned an essay with these ominous words (and, incredibly, many purportedly G-d fearing American Jews believe her):

“The survival of Israel is inextricably linked to the survival of the Republican Party and its evangelical base.”

John McCain doesn’t quite rate as the Messiah, but not to worry because Senator Joe Lieberman - the man who likened CUFI’s Pastor John Hagee to Moses - has compared John McCain to Judah Maccabee (rumor has it that Joe sees John as more of a personal savoir, in that he hopes to garner the position of running mate).

And speaking of personal savior, Pastor Mike Evans of the Jerusalem Prayer team is sending out personally addressed email in which he declares, “God has spoken to me as the Chairman of the Jerusalem Prayer Team to launch the Save Jerusalem Campaign. It seems that “Satan knows his command and control center for spiritual warfare is in Jerusalem!” and Mike has put himself in the position of “intercessor”.

It’s ironic that it was Ehud Olmert who launched the Jerusalem Prayer Team with Mike back in 2002

I got a hankerin’ for history and my Jewish roots, so let’s go way back to 1977 when Mike Evans – a protégé of Pat Robertson - was featured in an article in Time Magazine entitled,'Yeshua Is the Messiah': "Fraud . .. deception ... playing with religious tradition."(Excerpt):Leader Mike Evans, 29, presided like an auctioneer over fund-raising appeals ("Tell every single person what you want them to do. Lord") and faith-healing marathons ("There's a man with a gall bladder problem sitting over there. Well, you're God's beloved"). At one point Evans appealed for commitments to Jesus, blending Jewish terminology with tent revivalism: "Great God of Israel, I need forgiveness for my sins. I believe that Yeshua Jesus is the Messiah."...

Evans says: "We are just a bunch of young Jewish kids." ....Despite his Jewish emphasis, he gets backing from such Gentile Pentecostal stalwarts as Christian Broadcaster Pat Robertson and Evangelist David Wilkerson.

According to his website http://www.mikeevansministries.com/ Evans was present in Geneva in 1988 (where Yasser Arafat officially denounced terrorism), the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991, the White House Peace Accords in 1993, and the State Funeral of Yitzhak Rabin. Pardon my lapse into evangelical rhetoric, but it seems he has been everywhere the Devil has been.

Mike may have lost the Midas touch. His presence, along with Walid Shoebat’s, at a recent Night to Honor Israel Dinner in Florida – which was to raise funds for bomb shelters - did not produce impressive results. It was “less successful and less well attended” than previous events. According to the Heritage Florida Jewish News, an estimated $20,500 was raised, which fell far short of the goal of $76,000. Jewish participants reported that there was a distinct Christian tone to the evening with fiery rhetoric and references to the Antichrist, Armageddon, and blasphemers.

*************

Meanwhile Dr James Hutchens, a regional director of CUFI is reporting in the Jerusalem Connection International that “The Evangelical support for Israel is shrinking”. And that “more and more Evangelical pulpits are silent about Israel”

For those of you unfamiliar with Hutchens, please note that he graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California with a Doctor of Missionary (Multi/Cross-Cultural Studies). His dissertation was entitled, "A Case for Messianic Judaism."

Hamodia reports that Norwegian Jews are very unhappy with a decision taken by the Israeli embassy in Oslo to distribute tourism-ministry leaflets jointly sponsored by Christian groups such as the United Christian Council in Israel, believed to be a missionary group.

“While we are fighting tooth and nail to hold on to the Jewish identity of our community, the missionaries are receiving support from the tourism ministry,” wrote one outraged leader.

Arutz 7 reports that an Education Ministry '60th Anniversary of Israel' poster features a non-existent Christian church over the Western Wall and asks whether it’s an attempt to 'internationalize' the city?

I had written in that November update that, “If the Temple Mount is now being claimed by the three major religions, then the obvious diplomatic solution (a la Rice) would be to call for the internationalization of Jerusalem - and that is something the Vatican has always endorsed.”

Our Jerusalem Prayer Team friend, Mike Evans, referred to East Jerusalem as “the home of Christianity” in his January update:

Dr. James M. Hutchens, president of The Jerusalem Connection International and a regional director of Christians United for Israel says “There is a lot of Christian DNA in East Jerusalem”

And Israel Today Magazine ran a feature by Messianic Jew Mike Decker on How Messianic Jews and Christians can purchase property in IsraelThe moral of the story: If Israel wants a Judeo-Christian alliance with very passionate Evangelicals, then there is a price to be paid and don’t be surprised if a claim to Jerusalem is part of the deal.

This is who we are partnering with (the following is a John Hagee production):

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Remember this? This broadcast of Channel 10 News catches Sha'ul Goldstein, Head of the Gush Etzion Council, and thus member of the YeSh"A Council, during the Expulsion from Azza, staging his expulsion from the Sefardi syngogue in Neve Deqalim. He denies it, of course. Fast forward to 1:30. You be the judge. The video is in Hebrew without subtitles. If you cannot understand Hebrew, see what you can get out of the video anyway.

Last week, "Radiosh" was granted the tender of the recently created (read: "legalized") local broadcasts for Yehudah and Shomron (Judea & Samaria). The name is a contraction of "radio" and "yosh," which itself is an abbreviation for Yehudah weShomron. Finally, we are seeing the "A" (Azza) removed from YeSh"A. Although I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

"This station will broadcast messages in favor of settlement, and that's a radical departure from the state policy for regional radio stations. If licenses are being given by the state to the extreme Right for the creation of political radio stations, then the Left should get a license, too." (JPost)

Um,...Hello?! The Left should get one, too? They already have, like all the rest, with few exceptions such as Radio Breslov and the Sh"aS radio station.

Surprisingly, not all Left-wingers are against the idea.

Arutz 7 (Hebrew) reports that Moti Raz of Peace Now believes that everyone has a right to have a radio station which expresses its community's political views, whether it is Arutz 7 or Arutz 77. The issue for him is that it should be legal.

The general manager of the new "Settler Radio Station" Yehoshu'a Mor-Yoesf. You may recognize his name. He is the former YeSh"A Council spokesman from Ofra, who shaved his beard in an attempt any associations with being "one of those extremists." He resigned his position with the YeSh"A Council three years ago, initially denying the rumor that he was to accept the position of spokesman for the Foreign Ministry under Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. The "official" reason he resigned was in protest of the YeSh"A Council's call to disobey the Israeli government's "Disengagement Law."

In other words, Mor-Yosef was against disobeying an evil, anti-Torah law, because it was a dictate of the "almighty" government.

After the K'far Maimon incident, where the YeSh"A Council's collaboration with the illegitimate, Expulsion government became apparent to even the most naive Jew, we all knew that the YeSh"A Council's words were meaningless (although not the first time) only comprising an act of pseudo-rebellion. Surely Mor-Yosef must have known this. And, in case you were wondering, Mor-Yosef did indeed step up to the plate as the Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The rumor which cannot be confirmed is that his position would give him the power to protect his hometown of Ofra from any future expulsion of Jews and destruction of towns. Obviously, that power was insufficient to protect Ofra's neighboring hilltop community of Amona, assuming an attempt was made.

Incidentally, Amona has placed an ad looking to hire a mazkir (town manager). It is such a small community, I wondered what they would do with a full-time mazkir. The ad said that the position was full-time. The government has place a freeze on housing. Some mazkirim manage two, if not three small towns such as Amona. I find it curious that Amona requires a full-time mazkir, and that the residents can even afford one. The only thing that can be gleaned from this is that Amona wants independence from Ofra. But with the likes of Mor-Yosef I cannot blame them for seeking autonomy in order to follow their own path.

But I digress....

Guess who is the operator of this new local Yehudah and Shomron radio station? You may recognize his name, too. The Arutz Sheva's Hebrew weekly "b'Sheva" reposrts that it is none other than Tzvi Shalom. And you guessed it. He IS a relative of former FM Silvan Shalom, his brother in fact.

It is not clear to me as to why Arutz Seva (Israel National Radio) did not apply. Did they already know they would not be granted the tender, and thus did not bother? Was Arutz Sheva told not to bother?

In his own words, he said that "Radiosh would be nationalist, patriotic and pro-Zionist, but it would also be open-minded and pluralistic" (JPost).

Adam, are you seriously worried that "Radiosh" will be a representative of the right-wing voice in Yehudah and Shomron?

With Mor-Yosef in charge, you shouldn't be.

Just exactly whose views will be expressed on Israel's "Radiosh?" Yo"Sh's? Or Israeli Radio's?